The Rumourmill is Whirling: HP iPAQ 4000 Series?

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=1443&showComments=true' target='_blank'>http://www.bargainpda.com/default.a...owComments=true</a><br /><br /></div>"Reports are coming in that HP is going to release a new iPAQ during late fall to winter time frame. The iPAQ h4000 series will be on the high-end of the scale and will feature a built in QWERTY keyboard. The h4000 series will be roughly the eighth PDA released by HP, coming close to Sony's record set last year. It will certainly feature integrated wireless of some sort, most likely WiFi and/or Bluetooth. There is an outside possibility that it will integrate some sort of GPRS connectivity to compete with other "always-on" devices. At the CES earlier this year, HP told us they were working on an integrated unit with QWERTY keyboard. The h4000 does not appear to be this unit, but may be a serious step in that direction."<br /><br />Sometimes it's nice not to have an NDA, so you can just blurt out anything you hear. :wink:

[entropy1980]

Sometimes it's nice not to have an NDA, so you can just blurt out anything you hear. :wink:

Which brings me to the question what/who are you guys under NDA with? MS, HP? I remember a little while back there was talk with HP what came of it?

[powder2000]

Mmmmmmmm, rumours (_8^(|)

[Jason Dunn]

Which brings me to the question what/who are you guys under NDA with? MS, HP?

Both: HP and Microsoft, no others right now. The benefits of my NDA's will become clear shortly...

[sjmcloughlin]

As a Tungsten C user I would like to see what this handheld is all about. If in fact it is what is stated a keyboard, always on wireless etc I will make the move. However the Tungsten C is the next best thing for me at the moment but the blasted thing does not have bluetooth support. BTW Jason this is an excellent with some great information and as a HPC user and a Palm user its a great site to learn whats going on in the PPC world. I cannot wait to see what HP has up its sleeve.

[Foo Fighter]

Oh God. Not another handheld rumor. I can't take anymore!!! Sensory OVERLOAD!!! :worried:

[dma1965]

Sorry to sound so drap on the subject, but until HP, or anyone else releases a new device with a built in GSM/GPRS phone I am going to have to remain bored. I know that there is a lot of red tape to go through in the US to get a phone device, but the Palm people seem to be having no problem with it.

Another thing is built in cameras. I almost bought a Zire the other day at Fry's because of the very slick, intuitive, built-in camera, which an idiot could use. It just seems that the HP folks are taking already existing features and putting them together in different ways, with different body styles, and releasing them as new divices, with no significant gains. Frankly, as lame as I thing Palms are when it comes to things like filesystems, multitasking, and enterprise applications, they CONSTANTLY get a second look from me these days for all the nifty features, whereas Pocket PC devices are downright dull in comparison! :|

[carphead]

Pocket PC devices are downright dull in comparison! :|

Couldn't agree more. If Sony can release a PDA with a Camera with Flash. Then why can't HP or Tosh do the same?

What true inovations have there been in the last 18 months from the PPC OEM's? Apart from the finger print security in the 5xxx series I can't really think of anything ground breaking. Sure intergrated WiFi is good but it's not really stunning. Bluetooth's the same sure it's nice but where's the ground breaking stuff?

Like the original 36xx IPAQ's?

I hope we see something killer from HP with PPC 2003 but I can't see it really. I've been hoping to find something to replace my 3975 but I haven't seen anything that makes me want to.

[donkthemagicllama]

still waiting for a decent screen resolution... apparently ppc2003 won't have it...

also, what about 1xRTTt?? it's much beter than gprs..

[ricksfiona]

still waiting for a decent screen resolution... apparently ppc2003 won't have it...
It would be nice for the PPC to have a better screen, like the new Palms. But that's not going to sway my decision. Power, applications, , mobility, versatility, communications, nothing in my opinion can match the PPC. But it could be improved...

I'll be one of the first in line for the new 5550 IPaq's. My 3870 while good, just doesn't handle databases very well. I still don't think 400MHz is all that great but with all the other improvements, maybe the sum of it's parts will satisfy me.

I've played with the 5450 and performance seems quite zippy compared to my 3870. With built-in 128MB, Bluetooth and WiFi, the 5550 comes close to ideal.

[possmann]

Jason - how much longer? A week? a month?
i hate waiting... :pukeface2:

[Gremmie]

Remember when a Italian Pocket PC site had a flash of an HP Pocket PC with a built in keyboard? Could this be it?

[paris]

still waiting for a decent screen resolution... apparently ppc2003 won't have it...

also, what about 1xRTTt?? it's much beter than gprs..

ok why is everyone not happy with the current resolution? its just perfect.

you think that making a pda with double the screen will benefit you? i dont think so since the os will need double the power to handle the bigger screen and game will need more power as well, so this means that even thought you will have double the screen size you will loose some performance which is not what everyone wants right now. Well not exactly as i said but you get my point!

[paris]

Which brings me to the question what/who are you guys under NDA with? MS, HP?

Both: HP and Microsoft, no others right now. The benefits of my NDA's will become clear shortly...

Well i guess then on the 23rd we are going to have a ppc 2003 review waiting for us!

Also some hp H2200 + H5550 + H1940 reviews would not hurt us either :)

come on people give us some candy :)

[rubberdemon]

Hey, anybody else read the full article and notice they're referring to Pocket PC 2004 scheduled to be released in the Spring of 04? This comes as news to me as last I heard MS didn't plan on releasing a major OS update until 05. Unless this is a GUI update on top of the new .NET underpinings.

Hmmm, upgrade now, upgrade in 04? Or both!...

And by the way, the Treo 600 is looking more and more interesting, thought the 160x160 screen isn't too exciting - the form factor is fabulous for a phone PDA.

[jlp]

Is the 4000 this one? (http://home.urbanet.ch/urba4768/div/secret_ipaq.gif)

[achille]

[Cypher]

I'm all for innovation in the hand-held area, especially in the area of input devices. What I don't want to see is the everything you thing you'd ever potentially need attached to a hand-held all built in device. I actually don't want a camera built in particularly. The ones they're just building into phones and pdas have the resolution I gave up over three years ago and a lot fewer options for taking decent pictures too. I understand, though, that the lure is to always have it with you but, have you seen that Sony with the built-in camera? It's a slab large enough to allow helicopter landings :pukeface: (Come to think of it, that might be a good app: Paint a large circle with a big H in the middle on that screen and you could land 'em at night.) I thought my sleeved iPAQ was big, but that thing ought to have it's own time-zone. (Where's the "rim-shot" emoticon?)

All seriousness aside :wink:, the kind of innovation I want to see it actually the kind that HP and some others are doing: I want to see connectivity simplified without losing the control. (Think zero-configuration) I want to see easy switching between configurations (HP's managers are a start, but they need to add "auto-switch while roaming")

I'll admit that I also would like to see greater screen resolution. In a lot of cases, it's not a big deal, but it would be nice with browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, watching videos (and, OK, for some games). I'd really like to see on-the-fly orientation changes too. (Guess I'll have to wait a year or to more :mecry:

[Crystal Eitle]

What I don't want to see is the everything you thing you'd ever potentially need attached to a hand-held all built in device. I actually don't want a camera built in particularly.
I totally agree. I have a sweet little teeny-tiny Casio Exilim digital camera to go with my teeny-tiny HP 1910. The Exilim is small enough that I can take it anywhere - it's literally the size of a credit card. I'd rather carry separate devices, that each do their job well, and upgrade them individually as I see fit, rather than carry one all-in-one behemoth.

[Janak Parekh]

I totally agree. I have a sweet little teeny-tiny Casio Exilim digital camera to go with my teeny-tiny HP 1910.
Totally agreed here, too. The Exilim is compact and light-years ahead of most any camera bundled with a PDA except for the NZ90. The biggest problem with most integrated cameras is the lack of flash. Apparently the new Sonys will have an integrated LED flash, so it will be interesting to see if those have remotely decent quality.

(Oh, Crystal, you do not want to see the new 3MP Exilims. I saw them at CeBIT, and am seriously envious of the zoomable Z3. Also, both that unit and the EX-S3 are lighter than my EX-S2! Both have huge displays and a better d-pad.)

--janak

[Jonathon Watkins]

Oh God. Not another handheld rumor. I can't take anymore!!! Sensory OVERLOAD!!! :worried:

I Love Rumors! :ppclove: The more the better.

(Although it is good when some of them contain more than a grain of truth) :bday:

[Jonathon Watkins]

still waiting for a decent screen resolution... apparently ppc2003 won't have it...

ok why is everyone not happy with the current resolution? its just perfect.

Sorry, but no. Not when I want to use my PPC as a photo viewer - ie take the photos, slip the CD card into the PPC and check the shots were OK. With 640x480 you could have the text REALY small & still be able to view it clearly. I already use RegKing to drop my system font down to 10 points, so having a screen which would enable it to be even more readable would be great. High Rez rocks! Everything is clearer and sharper. I may well hold off getting a new device until I can have 640x480. The Linux handheld crowd already have it. When will we? :?:

[Jonathon Watkins]

Is the 4000 this one? (http://home.urbanet.ch/urba4768/div/secret_ipaq.gif)
I remember seeing that video

Yup, same here. It got me into Daft Punk's music :mrgreen: (who did the soundtrack it it).